In the next two months, a pangasius farm of Cafatex Fishery Joint Stock Corporation (Cafatex Corp) will be certificated GlobalGAP.

The farm is located at Cau Ke district, Tra Vinh province on Hau river with the area of 8 hectares and annual production of 5,000 MT of raw pangasius. In the upcoming time, GlobalGAP certification and other international standards will be carried out by pangasius farms of the company with total area of 150 hectares. Read more of this post

Two pangasius farms with the tune of 20 hectares are expected to be granted ASC certificate in 2012. If they are certificated, 6,000 MT of raw pangasius per year – equivalent to 2,000 MT of finished products will be labeled ASC, Docifish Corporation (Docifish) reported.

In late 2010, the company was granted GlobalGAP certificate for its 5 ponds with the total area of 5 hectares which provide 1,500 MT of raw pangasius (500 MT of finished products). However, the supply of GlobalGAP-certificated pangasius only responded to a small part of Docifish’s demand of 6,000 MT of fish for export to the EU market per year. Therefore, the company strives to get certification for 100 percent of its pangasius farms to meet the requirements by its traditional partners and to follow the global trends. Read more of this post

Up to 12th May 2011, 45 pangasius farms with the total area of over 1,000 hectares in Vietnam have been certificated by GlobalGAP. These farms belong to 24 enterprises.

GlobalGAP sets voluntary standards for certification of agricultural products (livestock, aquaculture..) around the globe to ensure food safety and hygiene. The standards cover the process of the certified product from farm inputs until the product leaves the farm. The increasing number of certificated pangasius farms proves that improved quality of the fish. The certification makes great contribution to bolster global consumers’ confidence in Vietnam pangasius products, to expand more potential export markets for the fish. Read more of this post

Add SGS to the list of auditing bodies designated by the Global Aquaculture Alliance to perform Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) audits.

BAP signed an agreement with SGS in which the Switzerland-based firm will perform facility inspections and certification audits for fish farms, hatcheries, processing plants and feed mills that apply for BAP certification, the GAA announced on Tuesday. Read more of this post

Agriculture and Fishery Extension Center in Tra Vinh (a northern province in Vietnam) has established two models of black tiger shrimp farming according to Global GAP Practices with an aim to increase shrimp productivity, output, quality serving for consumption and export, ensure safety and hygiene for raw material resources for processing and exporting, earn more foreign currency to the country in 2011.

Models are carried out in Hiep My Dong (Cau Ngang district) and Hiep Thanh commune (Duyen Hai district) with two hectare area and 4 households.

Farmers participating in the model, must have area of 0.25-0.5 hectare and commit to using suitable feed and chemicals in compliance with GAP Practices. These farmers will be supplied 100 percent of seeds and 30 percent of feed cost. Besides, they are provided with training courses, necessary seminars. Read more of this post

Thai Union, Thailand’s largest seafood producer, has gained “four star” ranking by the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) for its efforts in getting its operation certified to the group’s standard.

Thai Union’s four-star status is the highest level in GAA’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) program. GAA granted Thai Union the status following the group’s certification of two feed mills in Thailand, in Muang, Samutsakjon and Ranod, Songkhla, Thailand. The certifications mean the group is BAP-certified along the complete value chain from feed mills, hatcheries, farms and processing plants. Read more of this post

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), draft of VietGAP (Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices) standards for pangasius is being released for comments and recommendation. It will be then compulsory to apply after its issue.

Importantly, VietGAP standards are designed to meet other international standards such as GlobalGAP and BRC (British Retail Consortium). In addition, pangasius farmers could get free certification services provided by relevant agencies when they satisfy all certification requirements.

“If pangasius farms apply VietGAP standards, Vietnam pangasius production industry could respond to requirements for fish disease control, environment protection, social welfare and tracebility. This helps replace gradually different international standards – GlobalGAP, SQF or ASC…that we have paid much for certification,” agriculture experts said.

At the European Seafood Exhibition, on 05 May, Pham Anh tian, Vice General Director of the Directorate of Fisheries (D-Fish) and Ms. Valeska Weymann on behalf of GlobalGAP signed a MoU to improve GAP application in aquaculture and step by step benchmarch VietGAP with Gloabalgap.

The International Association of Seafood Professionals has announced it plans to set up an independent Seafood Standards Equivalence Committee for the benefit of stakeholders across the international Seafood Sector.

This initiative should add a balance of clarity and expertise to the formal review of seafood certification standards and remove the confusion caused by biased and poorly researched reports which claim to have formally reviewed existing standards. This initiative will cover Fishery, Aquaculture and Supply Chain Standards. Read more of this post